Music I love

[Boethius]

[BdHvA]

Thanks!

Johnny Cash, Charles Aznavour, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave have 'voices' that one does not forget.

[Boethius]

Yes, you are right Av.  So, I dedicate this one to you -

[Boethius]

This one came to mind recently while perusing some photos I happened to come across.

[SANDRO43]

Down memory lane? In 1979 I was on a flight to the Maldives, and this kept me company on the way :

[SANDRO43]

Tonight I attended an organ concert at the Chiesa Protestante Luterana (1850) in central Milan:

Its program of 'dance music' included Johann Pachelbel's (1653-1706) beautiful Chaconne in F minor:

As well as J.S. Bach's majestic Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582):

Not quite the dances I know and can perform .

[SANDRO43]

A diversion to explain these, and other, old 'dances'.

In XVII-XVIIIth century Germany, the 'dance' Suite (set, series) was a favourite form for lay music. Each suite - for orchestra or organ - included a number of 'French' dances like Bourrée, Chaconne, Gavotte, Gigue, Passacaille, Sicilienne, etc. etc- the supposed French origin gave the dour German composers leave to unbend from their strictly serious production of Protestant church music .

The livelier dances were usually composed in a major key, the slower ones like the Chaconne and Passacaille below in a minor key, and were included in the musical divertissements at the French court of Versailles.

While some dances probably originated in France, others came from elsewhere. the pastoral Sicilienne in 6/8 or 12/8 possibly from Italian Renaissance madrigals - a musical form also used much later by Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924):

The Passacaille (Italian: passacaglia) from the Spanish pasar (to walk) and calle (street), originated in early 17th century Spain as a strummed interlude between instrumentally accompanied dances or songs. Here's one by Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805), La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid, who lived long there, supposedly played by 2 rather unusual performers :

[JohnDearGreen]

Helping me get over you

Allison & sister - Going down

[BdHvA]

If any one wonders who was the artist of the nocturnal scene that Sandro posted upthread. It is by John Atkinson Grimshaw, English 1836-1893. He is sometimes refereed to as "The Painter of the Moonlight"

[SANDRO43]

La Furlana

Further on old dances: Furlana is the femine adjective pertaining to Friuli, our northeasternmost region bordering with Austria and, more recently, Slovenia.

The Furlana is a lively  6/8 or 6/4 country dance for one or more couples that became widely popular in Italy and, in the XVII century, also at the French court of Louis XIV. François Couperin (1668–1733) included it as the final movement in his Concert Royaux IV of 1715:

MUCH later Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) wrote a homage to that composer in his Le Tombeau de Couperin (Couperin's Tomb), where a Furlane was the 3rd movement (from 9'34" to 12"25"):

[Vinnvinny]

It doesn’t much better than this cute combo though there is something about BABYMETAL that worries me.

[Vinnvinny]

I know the chattering classes are just loving BABYMETAL so I thought you would like to see another performance of Gimme Chocolate!! 

This time they are performing in the UK last year. Whilst one might question if Japanese ‘Idol’ mixes with Metal you cant avoid feeling the NRG. Get with it Daddy-o's. Still concerning though … 

[SANDRO43]

A few nights ago I attended a concert at Villa Simonetta, a XV-century villa originally in open farmland NW of Milan and for more than 50 years home to our Municipal Music School:

1726 print - Restored in 1950 after WWII bombing

For many years its students have staged in July free concerts in its courtyard at the back. This year they performed decorously a couple of Bach's clavichord concertos, included below:

This is what I call the "Italian" Bach, since he borrowed the form - and many themes - from Vivaldi's L'Estro armonico, a livelier and lighter Bach .

At the time copyright did not exist, and "borrowing" from other composers was considered a homage - when acknowledged . Musical scores were prepared for specific occasions in hand-copied form, it was only at about Beethoven's time that printed scores began to appear, bearing their printers' marks and dates, and be sold - mostly for chamber music, the home form of entertainment of well-to-do families.

Hence the mysterious acronyms like BWV (Bachs Werke Verzeichnis), KV (Kochels Verzeichnis for Mozart), etc. appended to the works of earlier composers - Verzeichnis meaning catalogue/collection in German: an attempt to establish an accurate opus number (chronology), some still a matter of hot debate among musicologists .

Another innovation - by Beethoven in his scores - was the digital indication of metronomic time in addition to the traditional Italian analogue nomenclature of Allegro, Andante, Largo, Lento, etc. Robert Schumann tried to replace the latter, too, with German terms like Schnell, Langsam, etc. - without much success, though.

Music metronome

[HoundDaddyLee]

I am a huge Rush fan. They are a Canadian progressive rock trio. Currently on their 40th anniversary tour. I saw them in June in Buffalo (my 24th show over the years). Here is a link to one of my favorite versions of my favorite song by them "The Spirit of Radio" (released in 1980). This is from a tour about 8 years ago or so, but it shows their sense of humor as well as what monster musicians they are.





Hope you enjoy.


HDL

[tfcrew]

Limelight was a biggie....

[tfcrew]

My favorite Moody Blues....
[w/lyrics]

[Darth_Budda]

[Boethius]

[SANDRO43]

Apropos of Ravel's dances :

[SANDRO43]

And apropos of other dances:

[SANDRO43]

Of course, one should not forget also to mention:

[SANDRO43]

And..on a more somber note:

[SANDRO43]

Also Prokoviev's Dance of the Knights  from "Romeo and Juliet":

[SANDRO43]

Speaking of Hungarian dances...

[SANDRO43]

Here in its original version for piano solo :